By Kevin Carroll — STAFF WRITER
Despite launching a furious comeback with their backs against the wall, the Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team fell just one basket short of victory Wednesday night, dropping a thriller to UNC-W by a score of 76-75 at the Trask Coliseum.
20 turnovers and poor free-throw shooting were just too much for the Pride to overcome, despite having four starters pose double-digit scoring totals.
Darius Faulk led the way for the Pride, tying a team-high with 18 points. Faulk had a well-rounded performance as she also grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out seven assists in one of the best games of her collegiate career.
“I’m always pushing her to be a leader, and she is a leader on the floor when she takes a game over like that,” said coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey after the game.
Freshman phenom Ashunae Durant returned to the starting lineup in place of Elo Edeferioka and Durant took also led the Pride with 18 points and eight boards on the night. Kelly Loftus had 14 points, and Anjie White continued her string of stellar performances with 11 points in Wednesday’s loss.
This entire contest was played at a breakneck pace, as both teams raced out of the gate in the first half, pushing the tempo and looking for open shots. Neither team actually hit a basket until two minutes in, when a Loftus layup gave the Pride the first two points of the game.
Both squads would pass the lead back and forth like a hot potato all throughout the first half, with neither team able to break the game open. The Seahawks were able to stretch the lead to six points on two separate occasions, but the Pride scratched and clawed their way back. Loftus had 12 of her 14 points in the first half to keep the score close, as UNCW headed to the locker room with a 38-36 halftime lead.
Coming out of the break, Hofstra was slow to find the rhythm, turning the ball over multiple times, and losing Loftus for a long stretch as she picked up her third personal foul. Ashunae Durant, who had been a little quiet in the first half, started to pick up some of the scoring load for the Pride, as they looked to catch up to the Seahawks.
A Durant layup with just over twelve minutes to play put the Pride back on top, but it was short-lived, as UNCW’s Brie Mobley answered back with a three-pointer. The teams traded baskets down the stretch before UNCW started to pull away, taking a ten-point lead on the Pride with three minutes to play.
However, one of the defining characteristics of this Hofstra squad was its resiliency, and the Pride showed it in the game’s final minutes, launching a last-gasp comeback effort. After a jumper from White, and a big steal from Loftus, Darius Faulk scored six consecutive points to bring the Pride to within two.
Hofstra had a chance to tie the game up, but couldn’t convert with two fouls called on Asia Jackson then Darious Faulk. Those fouls sent Seahawks player Amber Reeves to the line and she knocked down three free -throws, to make it a five-point game with nine seconds left.
The Pride mounted one more comeback effort, but there just wasn’t enough time, as jumpers from White and Durant were in vain and UNCW escaped with a one-point, heart-stopping victory.
“It’s just two moments of disappointment for us these last two games,” said coach Kilburn-Steveskey. “It does not define us, but it is what it is. We cannot deny it.”
Hofstra finished the season with an 18-11 record, 11-7 in the CAA conference. UNCW, who was led by Shatia Cole’s game-high twenty points, finished at 14-15, with a 10-8 CAA record.
Next up for the Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team is a trip down to Maryland for the CAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Pride clinched the third seed before the game on Wednesday, and will be taking on the sixth-seeded Tribe of William & Mary. That game will be played on Friday, March 13th, at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
